This is a wonderful romp of a comic-serious novel in the grand picaresque tradition. I experienced fun shadowings, almost aura-like, of Tristram Shandy and Tom Jones. I won't soon forget Neill Rhymer.

– Richard Bausch, author of Peace, and the forthcoming Playhouse.

With Cock-a-Hoop, I marveled as always at the irrepressibility of Mesler's prose, the heady celebration of sex, the deep pathos inherent in the hilarity, to say nothing of the spectacular cover. In his career, Mesler has consistently created oases of light, necessary stops for refreshment without which it would be much more difficult to cross the often dark desert of years. Cock-a-Hoop is yet another of these sanctuaries.

– Steve Stern, author of The Village Idiot, and the Jewish Book Award-winning, The Wedding Jester

If Kurt Vonnegut and Authur Miller took a road trip to Graceland and decided to stay in Memphis, holed up in a hotel eating BBQ, hopped up on weed and Spanish Fly, and wrote a novel together, I'm pretty sure this is the novel they would write.

This is a love letter to love, a Sex Letter to sex. Speaking of which, this is an erotic novel. There is a lot of sex. Like, a lot! If you have any underlying health issues such as high blood pressure or heart disease, please check with your doctor and ask if COCK-A-HOOP is right for you. If you've been going through covid/monkey pox related abstinence, proceed with caution. This book might kill you. A close friend experienced this firsthand. A very. Close. Friend. ...

It's also a love letter to language, to storytelling and to the city of Memphis.

– Robb DeNyse